The diet of livestock, of cattle for example, is normally specified by a specialist, typically a nutritionist. In detail, the nutritionist identifies, through laboratory analysis, a set of information regarding the chemical components and nutritional values, such as starch, proteins, dry substance etc., which characterize each feed product specified in the animal's diet and then determines, on the basis of the chemical components and nutritional values identified for each feed product and on the basis of the nutritional requirements of the animals deriving from their physical and productive conditions, the correct feed rations, in terms of the absolute weight of each feed product to be put in the feed diet.
At many livestock farms, the amount of each feed product and the preparation of the feed ration to be given to each animal is carried out by means of mixer wagon, inside which the various feed products are loaded, by appropriate subsystems provided on the mixer wagon or mechanical shovels or other loading systems mounted on motorized vehicles, according to the respective target weights specified in feed diet prepared by the nutritionist.
State-of-the-art mixer wagons are equipped with a weighing system, which comprises one or more load cells connected to the chassis and/or the bin of the mixer wagon to detect the weight of the feed products loaded in the bin and an electronic control unit connected to the load cells to measure, moment by moment, the weight of the feed product emptied by the mechanical shovel or whatever other loading system into the bin, so as to control that the weight of the loaded feed product reaches the respective predetermined target weight.
In detail, the electronic control unit comprises a memory for storing at least one recipe of feed products to load onto the mixer wagon, a processing and control module configured to control, on the basis of the recipe, the weight of the feed products as they are loaded onto the mixer wagon and a display unit to inform an operator of the measured weight, moment by moment, and of reaching the target weight in the feed recipe.
It often happens that the various feed products that form the recipe must be taken from different storage areas or deposits subjected to prolonged weather exposure, which is known to alter the percentages of the chemical components in feed products and, in consequence, significantly alter the nutritional value of feed products. Therefore, for the same weight of feed products given to an animal, the nutritional values effectively given can vary significantly with respect to those specified in the “theoretical” feed diet specified by the nutritionist.
In consequence, conditions of dietary imbalance can arise in the animal that can even harm the animal's physical conditions and that, in any case, can lead to a qualitative and quantitative deterioration of the products obtained from the animal (milk, meat, etc.). Nutritionists know this risk very well and therefore tend to give a diet able to satisfy the nutritional requirements of the animals even in the worst case by giving, in the majority of circumstances, a diet with an excess of nutritional elements that increase feed costs more than is effectively necessary and also increase the levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the faeces.
It should be added that when an animal ingests an excessive quantity of proteins with respect to its needs, through its digestive cycle, the animal transforms the excess proteins into nitrogenous compounds that are expelled in the form of faeces: the resulting environmental impact is significant and obviously proportional to the number of animals subjected to a feed diet with excess proteins.